This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Bearings generally serve the purpose of reducing friction at interfacing wear surfaces, while supporting radial and axial loads. In compressors, as well as in other equipment, a cylindrical sleeve-type bearing is commonly used and typically includes an outer metal sleeve or backer having a porous metal layer adjacent to the sleeve with a polymer disposed therein to form the wear surface. For example, a common bearing used as a journal bearing in compressors has a steel sleeve/backer with a porous bronze layer having a well-dispersed PTFE resin, and also having lead particles dispersed in the resin (e.g., through use of a solvent based slurry). Global mandates to provide lead-free bearings necessitated development of alternative lead-free designs that provide equivalent and/or improved efficiency to conventional bearings, like sleeve-type bearings.